Happy First Birthday, Sweet Summer Farm!

This month we turn one year old. A year ago this August, we closed on our farm. We had looked for several years at farm after farm, never finding just the right one. If we liked the land, then there was no water; if there was a great creek or pond, the land was too steep to farm. We spent almost every weekend driving around over three different states; most of the time, a drive-by was all that was needed to eliminate each farm. A farm would sound wonderful on paper, but the seller had forgotten to say there was a convenience store next door that was open twenty-four hours. Let's not forget the farm with a "beautiful creek" that was really only about the size of your arm. And of course, the one that was on a five-lane highway was not what we had in mind. The creek was often the property line, so you are sharing the creek with your neighbor, and we once looked at a farm with a barbed wire fence down the middle of the creek so that the neighbor's cows could drink out of it. Maybe a plan for them, but not so good for us.

Then we got the call about this farm. Our agent, Dale Holmes, said we had to come look at it. It was beautiful. We loved it! Could this be the one? The creek ran right through the middle of the farm; there were pasture and woods. The house was in fair shape, and there was a barn and an old corn crib. After much talking and worrying, we decided this was the one: our Sweet Summer Farm.

We have had a lot of changes over this first year. The first thing we needed to do was put in a driveway. We cut down lots of overgrown boxwoods and tons of weed trees — the property had not been well cared for over the years. We plowed and planted a large garden after stopping every few minutes to dig out rocks. We have put in a small orchard; the deer have really enjoyed it, they think it is a salad bar. We have planted blueberries and raspberries, some fig trees, and three pecan trees.

In addition to all of our plants and trees, we have poultry. First, we have our beautiful Silver Lace Wyandottes. The first update on them is that, sadly, one of our hens has passed away. The second update is sad, too: our rooster had to go. Buster was a beautiful rooster, but his behavior was unacceptable. When he went after Grand and left her bleeding, he had to go. So he was given away. Next, we have our littles, aka our bantam chickens. The biggest and most wonderful update of all is our bantams have STARTED LAYING! Our bantams now have layed roughly two dozen eggs. Grand is going to make mini deviled eggs. All of us are very excited to start using tiny eggs.

The last type of animal we have is our wild and crazy ducks. The wonderful update here is that our ducks have started laying beautiful blue eggs. It's really cool to have brown eggs, blue eggs, and tiny eggs.

We are really enjoying our beautiful little farm. There have been a lot of changes in the past year. It has been a lot of work, but mostly it has been great fun and a wonderful experience. We are looking forward to many years in this very special place. We feel very blessed.

We love this old farmhouse!

Our large garden!

Our chickens are next door neighbors.

Our crazy ducks.

Our sign is finally up and looking good.

Our old barn Love it!

Our favorite spot! Down at the creek after a hard day. We are so lucky!

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